SEPARATE STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS

In the Matter of the Commission's Broadcast and Cable 
Equal Employment Opportunity Rules and Policies


	In my six months on this Commission I have often stated my strong desire to see 
the Commission quickly put in place effective EEO rules in the wake of the D.C. Circuit 
decision striking down our EEO rules for the second time.  I have just as often 
encouraged broadcasters and cable entities to continue their efforts to reach out into the 
community to seek new and diverse talent as they build their workforce, and to keep the 
Commission apprised of their efforts in this regard.  

	I have been encouraged by the responses of some broadcasters and cable 
companies that have continued their outreach efforts in the absence of EEO rules. I hope 
they will pursue these endeavors as the Commission considers new EEO rules.  Their 
actions have translated into positive results in building a workforce with more 
resemblance to our nation's diversity. 

I have also been encouraged by my Chairman's commitment to institute a 
proceeding to put new rules in place by the end of the year - a commitment he fulfills 
with the adoption of this item today.

For those reasons, I support the Second Notice of Proposed Rulemaking we adopt 
today.  The NPRM makes clear - if there was any confusion - that the Commission's 
rules prohibiting discrimination will remain in effect.  In addition, I hope that this NPRM 
will form the basis of an extensive record that will result in strong EEO rules that I will 
be able to support with enthusiasm and with pride.

While I support the NPRM before us today, I do not feel that it reflects the deep 
and passionate commitment to a diverse workplace that America must have if it is to 
fulfill its potential.  Our country's strength is its diversity.  Diversity is not a problem to 
be accommodated; it is an opportunity to be developed.  We will succeed in the Twenty 
first century not in spite of our diversity, but because of our diversity.  

Diversity should be America's song, and the FCC, standing at the forefront of the 
great transforming forces of our generation, should be leading the choir.  But this notice 
does not sound the trumpet and, as it was written of old, if the sound of the trumpet be 
uncertain, then who shall respond to the call of the battle?  I know my fellow 
Commissioners, and I believe each of us is dedicated to the advancement of equal 
opportunity, here at the Commission and across the industries with which we work. But I 
am afraid that the reversals by the D.C. Circuit have imparted too much caution about 
even approaching the borders of circumscription established by the Court.

 I understand full well that the decisions of the D.C. Circuit have limited the scope 
of any EEO rules the Commission may adopt, and I am saddened by any retreat in the 
area of equal employment opportunity and, indeed, in civil rights generally. But when 
civil rights are at stake, the stakes are high.  Our responsibility is to press the cause, to 
push the edge of the envelope and not to be deflected by a court decision that is, in fact, 
being vigorously contested at this very moment. 

	We can do better.  We can push the envelope farther than this and still be within 
the safe harbor of legal and judicial boundaries.  The Constitution has brought us a long 
ways in civil rights and equal opportunity in the past half century, and I just don't believe 
it's out of gas yet.

	Here is our challenge.  Let us take this proceeding as a port of embarkation and 
set sail to develop a record of breadth and depth that is in consonance with the breadth 
and depth of this great land.  I ask all of our stakeholders to help us.  Lend us your 
experience, your insight, your creativity to help us craft rules that are first of all effective 
and transforming, but that will also pass the muster of the courts.  A tall order?  Yes - but 
America was built on filling tall orders.  So I believe it can be done.  This is the time, this 
is the place, to do it.

	As we move to rules in this proceeding, let us search out uncharted paths to 
achieve equal employment opportunity.  Let us reach out to all of our stakeholders -- I 
trust the court will let us do that - and put America's genius to work in the cause of equal 
opportunity.  And let's do so with a sense of urgency.  We have been without rules here 
for far too long.  We need to have this Commission on record with forthright equal 
employment opportunity rules -- and the sooner the better.   

In furtherance of that cause, I hope that the Commission will give this issue the 
extra attention it deserves by convening an en banc hearing to address our broadcast and 
cable EEO rules. Such a hearing would create a forum for discussion among 
broadcasters, cable system operators, advocates, legal scholars and, most importantly of 
all, concerned citizens from every corner of the country.  And it would make an eloquent 
statement about the importance the Commission attaches to the job at hand.  This 
discussion, in addition to the comments we receive in response to this NPRM, would 
form a record on which we can base strong, effective and legally sustainable equal 
employment opportunity rules.

For my part, I look forward in the next few months to intensive engagement on a 
subject that goes to the core of our national being and upon which hinges our ability to 
open the doors of opportunity for our fellow citizens.  This is something, my friends, that 
we need to do and do right.